Heard it Around
by aww.weh.saw.me
Summary: When Jack gets word of news regarding Kim and Max Wagner, he lashes out and Kim and Jack engage in a heated argument.


"Good morning SHS, today is Wednesday and for lunch we have popcorn chicken, a side of corn, and milk. We would like to recognize our girl's gymnastics team who will be going onto the state championships next month and would especially like to congratulate Kim Crawford who set a new school record! In celebration, the band will be marching the halls the last 15 minutes of the day. Now please stand for the pledge."

After the pledge, Kim was paraded by classmates congratulating her on her performance. What especially stood out to her was the sudden interest Max Wagner had in her. He was fairly cute and now it seemed like he actually wanted to talk with Kim.

"Wow, Kim. You know, setting a record like that means you're probably pretty good," Max said.

"I suppose you could say that," Kim shrugged.

"One could also say you look very pretty today. Do you maybe want to hang out sometime?" Max asked.

Kim smiled. "Um, sure."

"Great, I'll text you later." Max walked back to his seat as class started and Kim let her mind wander to a possible friendship or even relationship with Max. A relationship, wow, that means like kissing and hugging and hanging out and always having a friend. It sounded like a great deal to Kim and by the end of class, she had prepared herself to take Max seriously.

When lunch rolled around, Kim had already gotten a text from Max and they had agreed to meet after school. When she sat down at the table, the boys all looked at her and she noticed Jack looked a little colder than usual.

"Hey, Jack," she said, hoping that would perk him up.

All he did was lift the tip of his fingers as a lame excuse of a wave.

"What's going on?" she asked as she looked to the other boys for an answer.

"Somebody's jealous," Jerry muttered in a sing-song voice.

"What?" Kim asked.

"Nothing!" Jack growled.

Kim was taken aback by Jack's angry tone and she was determined to know what was wrong. "Jack, cut the crap. Something is up, what is it?" Kim pushed.

"Oh, it's nothing. Nothing except that you've suddenly found your soulmate or whatever," Jack spat.

"What? Are you talking about Max?" Kim asked.

"Don't say his stupid name. And yes, _him." _Jack replied.

"We're not soulmates, we're just-"

"Dating?" Jack asked.

"Well, we have a date tonight but we-"

"Spending more time with him than the rest of us?"

"The only time we can hang out is during practice-"

"Longing to kiss him?"

"So what if maybe I like him-"

"Wanting to spend every minute of the day with him? Wanting to grow old with him? Have a few kids, maybe get a dog and move somewhere in the middle of nowhere to raise your perfect little family?"

"Jack!" Kim scolded. "Stop it! Clearly, something is going on with you and I don't want to be around you while you are sorting this out." Kim stood up and grabbed her things. "I'm going to sit with the team, I'll see you…" Kim stopped herself before she said practice, realizing she was going to miss it. "...later."

After Kim left, the boys started a conversation about something but Jack was too busy thinking about Kim to listen.

* * *

"Thanks again, Max. It was really fun, I hope we can hang out again," Kim said.

"Me too. You're a really cool girl. And surprisingly good at laser tag," Max chuckled. "See you soon?"

"Definitely," Kim smiled. "Thanks, Max!" Kim waved as Max walked off. He had offered to walk her home, as any guy should, he argued, but she declined.

Instead, Kim wanted to stop by the dojo and see if Rudy was still there. She wanted to apologize for missing class and let him know she was sorry and it wouldn't be an everyday thing. When Kim walked in, Jack had his back turned to her and was punching a dummy. Even from behind, Kim could see he was covered in sweat and his emotions were getting the better of him. Kim felt bad for leaving him earlier at lunch and she wanted to say she was sorry. Well, hopefully as she tried to apologize he would realize how wrong he was and he would say sorry to her first.

"Jack?" Kim asked. Jack didn't hear her, he was too focused on the dummy. Kim didn't want to shout and she knew that was the only way for Jack to hear her. Instead, she reached out and tapped his shoulder.

In one swift motion, Jack turned around and grabbed Kim's wrist.

"Hey!" she called at him. "Do you want to fight?" she asked in a rhetorical question kind of way.

"Yeah, actually," Jack spat. "Fight me!" he growled.

Before Kim could turn him down, Jack was already throwing fists. "Fight me!" he said again. Kim had no choice but to fight him. She could feel Jack's anger in every move. Not only in the power but in the moves themselves; they were very aggressive.

Kim had tried to stop several times, but Jack didn't give her a chance. She tried to knock him off his feet but instead, he flipped back and landed on his feet. He brushed his leg under Kim and she fell to the floor. Kim attempted to kick him down again and finally caused Jack to stumble. Without costing himself any time, Jack fell to his knees and grabbed Kim roughly. Before he could give her a chance to strike him, he shoved her to the ground and pinned her arms above her head with one of his hands. With his knees on the outside of her legs and his feet on the inside, he was able to hold down not only both her arms but both her legs too. And, he still had a free hand.

"Get off!" Kim grunted as she tried to squirm out from under Jack.

"That's not how this works, Kim," Jack spat. "Either you surrender, or we keep going."

"Jack, just get off me! This isn't a real fight!" Kim tried again.

"Isn't it?" Jack asked. "If I want to get better I should take every fight seriously, shouldn't I?"

"Jack, what is this really about?" Kim asked, still slightly struggling to get away.

Jack didn't answer but the look on his face and rage in his eyes reminded her of earlier.

"This is about Max!" Kim gasped. Now angry for the reason Jack was fighting with her, Kim wiggled even more. "How did you even know about that!" Kim asked between her bursts.

Jack used his free hand so he could grab both of Kim's wrists and stretched her arms until they were extended straight up, in the hardest position to move. He pinned them hard and Kim didn't have a chance of escaping. For a moment, Kim looked at Jack and studied his face. She felt drawn to him, but one look at his eyes helped her remember the position they were in and how angry they were at each other.

"If you're not going to get off me you could at least tell me how you found out about Max and me!" Kim almost yelled.

"I heard it around. Everyone seemed eager to let me know," Jack muttered. "Their stories were pretty crazy and at first I didn't believe any of them. But clearly they aren't all lies because you actually did go out with him and you never denied wanting to kiss him or spend the rest of your life with him!"

"I'm in high school! I am not going to consider _any_one as my future spouse while I am still in high school! And not everything you hear is true! It's your own fault that you believed every little detail those dumb kids told you!" Kim shouted. Talking about Max in the way that they were riled her up and Kim once again started to struggle. "Ugh! Get off me!"

Jack refused and held Kim even firmer, if possible. Suddenly the door to Rudy's office opened and Rudy poked his head out. "Jack, what are you doing? You heard Kim, get off her! One more move like that from you and you won't be allowed to spar without my supervision. Got it?"

"Whatever," Jack said as he roughly released Kim. Kim pushed herself up and scooted a few feet back from Jack, who sat across from her. "So I guess if not everything I hear is true that means you and Max are done?" Jack asked sarcastically.

Kim hesitated. "Actually, we are going out again. It was really nice," she said quietly.

Jack rolled his eyes at that and almost gagged. A buzz snapped the angry pair's attention towards Kim's phone. Kim stood up and Jack was close behind. Kim grabbed her phone and her eyes flickered slightly when she saw the text.

"Don't tell me. It's from Max," Jack said. He tried to look at what it had said if Kim had the kind of reaction she did, but Kim shielded her screen away from him. She turned it off and set it face down on the bench next to her. Jack sat down next to the phone on the bench so the phone was between them. Kim glared straight into Jack's eyes and he stared right back. When Kim's phone buzzed again, Jack snatched it up before Kim could. He saw it was from Max but didn't have time to read it.

"Give it back!"

"No way!" Jack said.

Kim reached out to grab it but Jack held it far above her head. Kim started to jump up or do anything she could to distract Jack and grab her phone but Jack wasn't having any of it.

"Sit down!" he tried to tell her.

"No, give me my phone!" Kim replied.

Jack sighed and shoved the phone in his back pocket. Before Kim could reach around and grab it, Jack wrapped an arm around Kim's waist and carried her to the locker rooms. He shoved Kim in the girl's locker room and closed the door before she could get out. He grabbed the handle in one hand to make sure she couldn't open it and with the other hand he locked the door. He could hear Kim banging against the door and shaking the handle, but he ignored it while he pulled out her phone. He opened it and saw she had a few new texts from Max.

The first, "My parents aren't home." That must have been the text Kim saw. The next said "we could hang out again tonight. Maybe more," followed by a shrug emoji with a wink. From there it got really suggestive really fast and Jack did the first thing he could think of and straight-up deleted the texts. Before he could do anything else, Jack unlocked the door and let Kim out.

When she came out, she was raging. "You have no right to do that!" Kim yelled.

Her shouts got Rudy's attention and he came out of his office again to deal with the two kids. He walked out just in time to see Kim yell at Jack again and attack him. She started to kick him and he just backed up, not fighting back when he knew Rudy was standing right to the side and watching them closely.

"Kim!" Rudy yelled. He stomped over to Kim and grabbed her arm and pulled her away from Jack and pushed her down to the bench.

"Kim, why on earth did you think it was okay to attack Jack like that out of the blue?" Rudy asked.

"He-" Kim started.

Rudy put his hand up to stop her. Jack had the slightest smirk on his face and Kim almost jumped him right then and there. "I don't want to hear it. You two better work out whatever is going on because I have caught both of you breaking one of my biggest rules today! I am going to Phil's and I want you both to go home and when you come back, this better be resolved," Rudy said.

"Fine," Kim humphed.

"Fine," Jack muttered.

Rudy nodded and gave the kids a look as he started to walk over to Phil's. Jack turned around and Kim ran up to him and grabbed his arm.

"Can you give me my phone?" she asked with a hand out.

"Fine. Here!" Jack slammed the phone into Kim's hand and turned back around.

"You went through my phone!" Kim yelled. "What gives you the right to do that! You- You lying, backstabbing hypocrite!" Kim yelled.

She knew she struck a chord when Jack slowly turned around, now angry again, and stomped right into Kim's face. "What did you call me?" he seethed.

Kim considered backing down, but she couldn't. At least, not yet. She was getting madder by the second and if she pushed Jack far enough, maybe she could get him in trouble.

"I said," Kim said taking a step closer. "You are a lying, backstabbing, hypocrite," she repeated slowly. "And I won't take that back. In fact, I'll add to the list. Self-absorbed, two-faced, petty-" Jack couldn't help his heart as it pumped harder or the fist he clenched in anger. "-prying, pathetic, stubborn! Shall I go on!"

Jack bent down so fast Kim gasped in surprise and took a small step back. Jack just matched it and stared Kim down. "Take it back," he commanded in a frighteningly low tone.

"No."

"Then get out of my way!" Jack grabbed Kim's arms and forcefully shoved her to the side, trying to walk past her. Kim fell to the floor and quickly stumbled back onto her feet. She ran at Jack's turned back and tried to strike him. Jack caught her fist and pushed her back. Kim threw a kick to his side and Jack caught it and slammed her into the wall. Kim raised her fist again and Jack aimed a kick to knock her hand down, but she ducked instead and Jack accidentally kicked her cheek. Kim stared up in shock as she held her face but quickly looked down, not wanting Jack's pity or satisfaction.

Jack sighed as he walked into Rudy's office and found an icepack in the mini-fridge and freezer. He grabbed it and walked back to find Kim still sitting on the ground. He wordless tossed the ice pack into her lap and left with his bag before either one of them said or did anything else.

* * *

The next day, Kim walked into the dojo with her head down just as it had been for most of the day. After her fight with Jack, she had iced her face but that didn't stop a small bruise from forming on her cheek. The fight had put her in a bad mood all day and she stayed quiet unless she absolutely had to talk. When Max tried to talk to her a few minutes before class, she just told him she didn't feel well but that they could talk later.

Kim thought staying away from Jack after what he did would make her feel better, but it didn't seem like that was true. She surely didn't want to be _with _him, but being without him was not empowering her at all. After Kim came out of the locker room, she saw Jack turn around and they made brief eye contact.

Jack started to walk towards Kim and for a moment she was afraid he might still be really mad at her. However, she really wanted to hear whatever it was that Jack seemed to want to say, so she stayed put.

"Kim," he started. "I'm really sorry." Kim nodded but didn't really feel anything. "About the bruise, I mean. I wasn't trying to kick you in the face. I was mad, and I may have wanted to kick you, but I really didn't mean to _actually_ do it."

Kim nodded again. "I know you didn't."

Jack nodded too and shifted awkwardly. Instead of taking a step away from Kim, he angled his body forward as if he had something to say. "Well, um, while we are here and talking already, you know, I was just thinking… maybe we could talk about yesterday?" Jack looked up quickly to see if Kim was going to suddenly lash out at him.

"Can we agree to not let out emotions get the better of us? I don't want to fight again like yesterday. We obviously disagree about something but I don't want to fight. I can't handle that right now," Kim said.

"Agreed. You can even tie my wrists if you want," Jack half-joked. A small smirk grew on Kim's face as she eyed a black belt near the wall. "But if you tie my wrists, your wrists have to be tied too," Jack added.

Kim thought it over for a second before walking away. She grabbed two belts and walked back to Jack. "Fine then. Tie me."

Jack grabbed one of the belts and tied Kim's wrists together before tying a loose knot in the belt Kim had for him and slipping his hands through. With a little bit of struggling, Kim managed to pull the knot tight and the two now stood without the use of their arms.

"Okay, now can we talk?" Jack asked.

"Okay. But can we sit down?" Kim asked.

Jack rolled his eyes. "I don't care what we do as long as we talk!"

After Kim sat down Jack sat next to her and glared at her. "Now?" he asked.

"Yes. What did you want to talk about?" Kim asked as she braced herself for an uncomfortable conversation.

"I don't think you should be seeing Max," Jack blurted out. He hadn't meant to be so abrupt but it had been on his mind ever since yesterday.

"Jack, give me one reason why!" Kim demanded.

Jack looked at Kim and didn't want to hurt her feelings so all he said was, "I just don't think you should."

"Jack, if you don't want me to, you have to give me a reason. You can't expect me to just do it without even telling me why!"

Jack sighed. "I read what he texted you yesterday," he started.

"I know. And I am still very mad at you for that. And then after you stole my phone and read my texts, you _deleted _them!" Kim said.

"But Kim, you didn't see what he sent!" Jack reasoned.

"I did see!" Kim said. "All he said was 'my parents aren't home.'''

"That's what he said first. But after that he- he sent other things." Jack looked down and much quieter said, "he said some inappropriate things, Kim. I just didn't want you to see that, I know how much you wanted things to work out with Max and to find out what kind of a guy he is in that way isn't the most fun."

"What do you mean?" Kim asked.

"I mean he was just using you. I didn't think you were dumb but coming from a guy, I could see it clear as day that he was using you and I didn't want you to fall into his trap. I'm sorry though, I shouldn't have taken your phone and I shouldn't have read your private texts and I definitely shouldn't have deleted them. And I guess I shouldn't have locked you in the locker room too," Jack smirked.

"Why?" Kim asked.

"A-are you really asking me why I shouldn't have locked you in the locker room? Because I thought that was pretty clear with the whole banging on the door," Jack asked, very confused.

"No! Not that. I mean why did you delete those texts. Why did it matter if I fell into his trap?" Kim clarified.

"Well, because I care about you. I can't see something like that and not protect you from it." Jack meant what he said, but he was getting uncomfortable sharing what was in his heart and changed the subject. "But again, I'm really sorry. I could have approached it so much better and it was wrong of me-"

"Jack, it's okay. I get it now. You probably could have done better, but I was wrong for provoking you. I shouldn't have said all those mean things about you. They weren't even about you, I just said every mean thing I could possibly come up with but none of them are true, I promise. I don't think of you like that," Kim assured him. "Well, I take that back. You can be stubborn, I definitely meant that one."

"You want to talk about stubborn? Have you met you! I've never seen someone as stubborn as Kim Crawford!" Jack said as he rolled his eyes. "And I think that is a great quality to have. You stick to what you know is right and you don't let others sway you, if everyone could be strong like you, the world would be a _lot _different," Jack chuckled.

Kim blushed at that and looked away. "Thanks, Jack." She started to lean in for a hug but realized her wrists were still tied. Jack noticed at the same time and they met each other's eyes simultaneously and laughed.

They both stood up and Jack lifted his arms above Kim and wrapped her in an awkward hug. Kim was trying to do the same, but her hands were tied and trapped between her chest and Jack's and she accidentally stepped back too far and stumbled to the ground. Jack was unable to catch her and he fell right along with her, still holding her between his tied arms.

When they landed with a grunt, Jack rolled onto his back and Kim was forced on top of Jack. They realized their awkward position and quickly struggled to untangle themselves. In the hassle, they really made their problem worse, but eventually they were laying completely separated.

"Sorry about that," Jack said as he cleared his throat.

"No worries," Kim said as she did the same. "Um, can you help?" Kim asked as she held out her tied wrists. "I don't think we need these anymore."

"You sure?" Jack asked.

"I'm sure. I'm texting Max as soon as we're un-tied and telling him it's not going to work out between us," Kim explained.

"Good idea. And I will be far away from your phone while you do that," Jack conceited.

Kim smiled as Jack tried to undo Kim's knot. When her belt was finally loosed, she did the same for Jack. Jack picked up the belts and went to put them back while Kim texted Max.

It was then that Rudy walked in and remembered the previous day. "Are things good between you two?" he asked.

Kim looked at Jack and Jack looked back and smirked. "Oh yeah, I think we're good."

"Good," Rudy mumbled as he walked straight into his office.

"What was that about?" Kim asked as soon as Rudy closed the door.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked as if he didn't know.

"I mean why did you say it like that?" Kim said.

"Like what?" Jack continued.

"You know what! Like all weird!" Kim said. "Like there was more!"

"More? More what?"

"I don't know, you tell me, you're the one that said it," Kim fired back.

"Okay, maybe I did mean more. It's just, we are more than good, aren't we?" Jack asked, making sure Kim was on the same page as him.

Knowing where he was headed, Kim agreed. "Yeah, I think so."

"Well, me too. Uh, but I was thinking like more than friends too and ohh I don't mean it like that! I mean- I don't know it's just that people say that when they are in love and all and I didn't mean that we are in love or that I love you because I don't know I mean maybe I love you but I just meant that like I like you a lot but not like that, but like maybe- I just- oh this is a disaster," Jack muttered as he buried his head into his hands. "I just meant, I feel like we really get each other, like, like best friends?"

Kim struggled to not laugh while Jack was trying to explain how he felt. "I think I get it. I know what you mean. But, maybe you were right? Maybe it is more than just good friends?"

"I mean, I didn't say that, unless, are you- I mean if you're saying that then- um, yeah. Yeah, I think it could be more," Jack decided.

Kim chuckled this time; she couldn't hold it in anymore. "Well then Mister maybe I like you maybe I don't, do you want to go on a date?" Kim asked hopefully.

Jack smiled. "I'd love to, Miss I ask questions I already know the answer to just so that Jack gets even more uncomfortable."

Kim shook her head and playfully punched Jack as he led her out of the dojo.

"Where are you guys going? We were just about to start practice?" Rudy asked as he came back out of his office.

Kim and Jack looked back at Rudy, then in front of them, then at each other. "Run!" they called as they sprinted out the dojo.


End file.
